Rituals
by rikkulover213
Summary: This is my Fatal Frame game. Fatal Frame 4: Rituals. Erik is having weird visions about his Grandfather. One night, his grandpa points out the entrance to a village no one knows about. OMG! ITS BEEN UPDATED AFTER WHO KNOWS HOW LONG! COME READ AND ENJOY!
1. Prologue

Prologue

On the 13th of every month, the village of Shakai performs "Rituals" that no other village would even think of. This village sacrifices one of its own people for the calming of the Gods that look down and protect them. The Shakaian people believe that the more their village suffers the happier the Gods will be.

The story of the Shakaian people has been passed down through many generations. It all started around the year of 212 B.C. The people of Shakai became very lazy; for one of their Gods have come down and given them anything they want. The villagers became more and more lazy which made the rest of the Gods very angry. They all descended on the 13th of a month and destroyed the whole village.

Now, the year is 2005…and it's time for Shakai to take a handful of victims for the sacrifices that must be performed…

The Gods must be happy…


	2. Day&Night 1

Day 1

The bus pulled to a stop near the curb and the hatch doors opened. Erik, a 16 year old soccer player stepped off the bus and onto the sidewalk. His light blond hair fluttered as the wind passed threw it. His blue eyes staying locked on the bus. He clutched his backpack strap that was hanging on by a thread, waiting. The doors closed and the bus started to move. His heart began to beat very fast and his eyes shut. _'Please….don't be there!'_ The bus was gone and his eyes slowly opened. His heart skipped a beat as he saw his grandfather standing on the corner across the street! "No….why are you here…?" He said as he stared at his grandfather who was now moving slowly towards him. Erik was frozen. "Grandpa….why are you here! You need to leave! Please!" His grandpa was only a few feet in front of him and was slowly reaching out to touch Erik. "NO!" He screamed and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his grandpa was gone.

Erik's grandfather had died a few years back. Before he died he would always wait for Erik at the bus stop when he came home from school. He and his grandpa were very close. His dad had walked out on his mother and him when he was 8. Then his Grandpa Rick came to help with the loss. When Erik was 14, Rick was in an accident. Rick was a firefighter for 25 years. Then one day, when he was inspecting a house that had just been through a fire, the ceiling collapsed and crushed him. They said the house was stable, but it obviously wasn't. Rick was killed instantly.

Ever since the accident, Erik has been seeing his grandfather everywhere. He hasn't told anyone of course, only because he doesn't want the usual "you're just going through a rough time" speech from some psychiatrist.

Erik began walking home with small tears forming in his eyes. He reached his house and wiped his eyes clean before entering the house. He reached for the doorknob and twisted, only to find the house was locked. "Damnit! MOM!" He shouted at the door. He didn't have an extra key. They never had one made. He looked in the driveway and noticed his mom's car wasn't there. He walked around to the back of the house and tried the back door. Also locked. He set his pack down in the back and went around to the front. He sat down on the porch and looked at hi watch. Half-past 2. His mom knows he get's home this early, why would she lock all the doors?

Suddenly he heard his cell phone ring. He pulled it out his pocket hoping it was his mom. He looked at the number in the little screen. Only, this wasn't a number.

"Θ ΐ Ж ω Д Ф ς ǽ ₪"

"What the hell?" He flipped open his cell phone and held it up to his ear. He listened, but there was only static. Just as he was about to hang up, he heard the static break a few times. In between the static he could hear something. "_ERIK……..EIRK!" _Said a raspy voice on the other end.

"HELLO?"

"_ERIK! ERIK!"_

"WHO THE HELL IS THIS!"

"_ERIK…THE….BUS STOP…BUS…STOP…"_

The line went dead. He closed his cell phone and stood up. He stepped off his porch and looked down the street to his bus stop. He saw someone standing there. The person motioned for him to come. He slowly started walking toward the corner where the figure stood. As he got closer he could hear his phone ringing again. He pulled out of his pocket. The same odd symbols were on the screen. He opened his phone. "Hello?"

"_ERIK! PLEASE...HELP…ME…"_

He was getting closer to the figure whose arm was now stretched out towards him. He then noticed it was his grandpa. Erik dropped the phone and started to run towards Rick. "GRANDPA! HOLD ON!" He was getting closer and closer. He was almost there as he stretched his arm out to grab onto his grandpa. He was only a few feet when heard a loud crack. The sound was so loud he stopped in his tracks. He stared at Rick who looked up into the sky. Then, what looked like a collapsed roof appeared out of nowhere and fell on Rick. There, right in front of Erik, Rick had died again. The apparition vanished.

"NOOO!" Erik fell to his knees and sobbed. His face was in his hands as he heard a car drive up beside him.

Erik's mother had gotten out of her car and was now embracing him. "Erik? What's wrong…why are you in the middle of the street?" Erik looked up at his mom. He hugged her back and thought up a good lie.

"I thought you left me like dad!" He wailed. His mom started to cry now.

"Erik! I would never leave you! I love you with all my heart!"

Erik sniffed and looked at her. "I love you too…"

He picked up his cell phone. Not much damage, just some scratches. They got into her car and drove to their house.

Night 1

Erik finished all of his homework around 9:00. After such a rough afternoon, he decided to go to bed early. He went out into the living room and kissed him mom goodnight. He got into bed and turned out the lights. A few hours later, he was awoken by the sound of his cell.

"ERRG! Who the hell would be calling now!" He looked at the clock. "1:19? It's Jared I bet." He went to answer his phone but stopped before he picked it up. He remembered the events that had taken place a while ago. He remembered the weird symbols in his screen. He started to get tears in his eyes while he thought about what he had witnessed. "Please….don't be him…"

He grabbed the phone and looked at it. The same symbols were there again. He began to cry harder. Despite the overwhelming sadness, he flipped open the phone. "Hello?"

The same static was heard, and between the static, he could hear the same raspy voice saying, "_Erik! Erik…bus…stop…" _Erik was still crying at this point. But he got out of bed and slipped on some pants and shoes. He hoped out his window and ran to the bus stop where he saw his grandpa standing there again. He closed his cell phone and slowed to a walk. He stared at Rick who had his arm stretched out again.

_"Erik…"_

"Grandpa? What do you want? Why are you still here!"  
_"There…is…something…I…need…to…show…you…"_

Rick slowly pointed to a big boulder, other was known as the bus stop.

"Bus…stop…" Erik said to himself. He finally understood why Rick had been saying it. "What about it?" Erik then heard the sound he feared. The loud crack had happened again.

"NOO! Grandpa! You can't leave me! Stay here!"

"_I…can't…"_

"THEN I'M GOING WITH YOU!" Erik ran towards Rick and reached him just as he was looking up. Erik looked up too and saw the boards and debris falling down. He screamed and shut his eyes. He felt nothing. When he opened his eyes, Rick and the debris were gone.

"I knew it was going to happen. Why did he want me to know about the stupid rock!" He looked at the rock through the tears and saw something glimmering in the moonlight. He walked over and knelt down to it. He picked up the thing and looked at it. There was an engraving on the back of it.

"_Camera Obscura? _What the heck is this?" He looked through the viewfinder and noticed the capture circle was glowing blue. He turned around to look behind him but the capture circle had stopped glowing. He turned back to the rock and circle was glowing bright blue. He snapped a picture. It was one of the old cameras where when you take a picture, you get the picture right there. The picture came out. When it was fully developed, he noticed that the rock had a hole in it. The hole kind of looked like a door.

Erik walked up to the place on the boulder where he took a picture. He looked at it and noticed a crack in it. It was just a normal crack that you would find in any boulder. It was a straight vertical line. Erik looked around and looked back at the boulder. He pushed on it and the "door" budged. He pushed a little harder and the door swung open. It was very dark. He couldn't see anything, so he decided not to do anything with yet…unless he could find a flashlight.

He ran back to his house and climbed through the window. His mom was still fast asleep. He flipped on the light in his room and looked everywhere. He checked under his bed and pulled some things out from under it. There, underneath some garbage was a flash light. He pulled it out, shut off the light and pressed the button for the flashlight. It was bright. Perfect.

He jumped back out of his window and ran back to the boulder. He opened the door again and shined the flashlight into the big hole. There were very steep steps. He stepped on the first one carefully. He tested it to make sure it could support him. Then he realized it was stone. He stepped on the next one and shut the door behind him. "No one else should know about this! Grandpa obviously only wanted me to know." He slowly made his way down the steps. When reached the bottom he looked back up at where the door was. He turned around and pointed his flashlight down a long corridor. He started walking down the hallway and noticed more stairs up ahead. He went down those stairs. At the bottom was another hallway. At the end of that, was more stairs. "Am I going to hell or what?"

As he was going down the stairs he noticed that there was a flickering light at the bottom. Once he reached the bottom of the steps he found himself in another hallway. Only this one was lined with torches on the wall. He saw something on the ground a little ahead of him. He turned off the flashlight and walked over to the item on the floor. He reached down and picked up a small piece of paper.

He looked at the writing that said:

ON THE CAMERA…

RED IS DEATH!

WATCH FOR RED!

BLUE MEANS IT'S NEARBY,

WATCH FOR BLUE!

RED WILL ATTACK, WHILE BLUE IS GOOD!

WATCH YOUR FILAMENT!

Erik looked down at the camera that he was holding a small glass bar on the back was now glowing blue. He held the camera in front of him. He looked through the viewfinder and saw his circle was blue. He hit the shutter and got his picture. It was already developed. The picture he just took was of a wall. But on this wall there was writing.

THIS CAMERA CAN CAPTURE THINGS THAT YOU CAN'T SEE WITH THE NAKED EYE!

BLUE IS GOOD, RED IS BAD…

BLUE IS GOOD, RED IS BAD… BLUE IS GOOD, RED IS BAD…

BLUE IS GOOD, RED IS BAD… BLUE IS GOOD, RED IS BAD…

BLUE IS GOOD, RED IS BAD…

BLUE IS GOOD, RED IS BAD…BLUE IS GOOD, RED IS BAD…

Erik looked at the picture then at the wall. There was no writing on the wall. "It's true…this camera can see things I can't." Just then he heard some soft whispering behind him. He turned around and looked at his camera.

The glass tube was red…

Erik panicked and threw the camera up to his face. Through the viewfinder, he saw a person with a torch running towards him. He held the camera steady and watched the figure run toward him. _'It's a ghost! It can't hurt me can it?' _ He didn't want to find out. The capture circle suddenly turned red and he hit the shutter button. The ghost fell backwards and muttered something then disappeared. "I can kill the ghosts with this camera?" He saw that there was something where the ghost had been. He picked it up. It was another piece of paper.

WHEN FIGHTING A GHOST,

MAKE SURE YOUR CAPTURE

CIRCLE IS RED,

THIS WILL CAUSE MORE

DAMAGE TO

THE GHOST

OR GHOSTS THAT ARE IN THE

CIRCLE.

USE THIS TOO WHEN

FIGHTING! WHEN YOU SEE

THIS FLASHING IN THE TOP OF THE

VIEW FINDER, TAKE A PICTURE FOR A FATAL

FRAME. THIS WILL CAUSE EVEN MORE DAMAGE

CHAIN

FATAL FRAMES TOGETHER

FOR MAXIMUM DAMAGE!

Erik was a little surprised that ghosts actually existed. He noticed something on the ground. It was the "Alarm" function. "This must be for that fatal frame thing…" He equipped it to the camera and looked down the corridor. He saw a figure at the end of the hall. It was crouched down facing the wall. "Hello?" No answer. He cautiously walked toward the person and had his camera in the ready position, just in case. As he got closer the figure stood up and rushed him. It came so fast, he didn't have enough time to get the camera up. The figure grabbed him and his vision went black. He then saw some sort of flashback in his head. There was a woman standing in the center of a big triangle. She had two ropes tied to her wrists. She wore a long white kimono and had long black hair. Two priests came out of the dark corners and grabbed hold of the ropes.

They hoisted her arms into the air, and tied to a hook hanging above her. She kept her head down and her eyes shut. They took a knife that was covered in weird symbols. One priest held the knife high above his head and let it come down in the woman's torso. The woman let out a loud yell. The priests took knife after knife and stabbed her in different areas. Erik counted a total of 12 knives. Finally, a big man wearing a very disturbing mask came out and took the last knife. He lifted up the woman's head, and Erik saw she was still alive, only barely. The big man took the knife and slit the woman's throat. They let all of the woman's blood drain into a barrel. The big man took the barrel away and the flashback ended.

When Erik's vision fully came back, he could see the woman hanging there with all the knives in her body. He slowly brought up the camera. He didn't notice it was glowing red. He took a picture and looked at it. When he did, he saw that the woman's head was up and her eyes were looking right at him. He looked at the body and saw the same thing. The woman's black eyes were staring right into his. The ropes tied to the hook broke and she fell to the ground.

Erik started to back up as he watched the body slowly start to get up. He blinked and she was fully standing. Her arms were outstretched and she was gliding toward him rather quickly. He didn't even want to try and fight the ghost of the woman. He turned and started to run up the steep stairs. It suddenly became dark because he was no longer near the torches. He trusted his instincts about where the stairs were and ran up to the door. He pulled it opened and ran out. He turned back around and saw the woman right there. He shut the door and collapsed. He heard one last thing before he ran back to his house.

"Please…die….with…me…The Gods must me happy."


	3. Day 2

Disclaimer! I do NOT own any of the Fatal Frame ideas or things that are used in this story….and I'm kinda glad. These games freaked me out and I don't know if I'd want the camera….ok so I would. But I do own all the characters! Read and review, and flame if you must. I need a good laugh! Enjoy!

Day 2

Erik sat on his bed replaying the events of the night before over and over again in his head. _'Did it really happen? Was it a dream? It had to have been. Ghosts aren't real. Right? ' _He shook his head trying to get the images out of his head. He closed his eyes and slowly lay back onto his bed. As he lay there, trying to fall into sleep, the vision of the woman being stabbed over and over again, would not stop playing. The next thing Erik knew, he opened his eyes, to realize it was morning.

"Erik! You better get up! You're going to miss the bus!" His mother yelled from downstairs. "You want me to make you something for breakfast?"

"No, Mom. I'm not really hungry. I'll be down in a few." Erik swung his legs over the edge of his bed, and put his feet on the floor. He let out a small gasp when he felt something cold on his toes. He looked down, only to find one of the knives, used to stab the woman, under his foot. His eyes grew wider and he jumped away from his bed, over to the light switch. He flipped it on. He looked back at where the knife was, but it wasn't there. 'Great… Now I'm going crazy. It wasn't real! It was just a dream.'

He got ready, grabbed his bag, and walked down the stairs into the kitchen. He and his mom did the classic family thing, said good-bye and to have a good day and that they loved each other. He walked to the bus stop, but stopped a few feet short upon seeing something on the ground near the huge boulder at the bus stop. No one else was at the bus stop yet, so he decided to slowly walk up to the rock, as if it were dynamite about to explode. When he got closer, he felt his heart go into his throat. On the ground in front of the rock, was the Camera Obscura. It was like last night was happening all over again. Just then, Erik heard something across the street, making him feel nauseous instantly. He slowly lifted his head up and saw his Grandpa Rick on the corner again, staring up to the sky.

Rick broke his gaze from the sky and looked straight into Erik's eyes. His boney hand lifted from his side and he pointed to the rock. "Please….Erik…Stop….Them…. Stop My…..Suffering…." _CRACK! _The debris that had crushed Rick came from no where again and crushed him. Erik shut his eyes and covered his ears. He could feel the tears rolling down his face.

When he opened his eyes, Rick and the debris were gone. Erik looked back at the rock. "I'll help you grandpa." Erik said to no one. He reached down and picked up the camera. When he stood back up, he looked around to make sure no one was around. He stretched out and pushed on the rock, and felt it open. He pushed the door as wide as he could and looked down the steep steps. One more glance around, to be sure no one was there, he slowly entered the rock and shut the door behind him. Carefully walking down the stairs he made sure he had the camera with him. When he made it to the bottom, the torches were still lit, and he began to walk down the long hallway.

He made it to the spot where the woman was, but there was nothing there. But then he remembered something from last night. 'THIS CAMERA CAN CAPTURE THINGS THAT YOU CAN'T SEE WITH THE NAKED EYE!' Reaching for the camera, he heard something behind him. The camera was up to his eye in no time and he whirled around. Nothing was there. When he turned back around, there was a door that was open. His heart jumped again. He kept the camera right in front of him as he passed through the door.

The new room was a big open area, with three doors. One on the right wall, one directly in front of him, and one to the left of him. There were curtains hanging down in the center, in a square formation. A small flickering light was inside of the curtains. Erik looked around the room and decided that a good place to start would be with whatever is behind the curtains. He cautiously walked toward the curtain closest to him.

"I don't want to do it anymore… But the God's must be happy." Came a whisper from behind the curtain. Erik stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing this. He brought the camera up to his eye and reached for the curtain. He felt his heart almost stop as he saw the same woman from before, kneeling down by a table, with her back to him. Waiting for the attack, he noticed the capture circle was blue instead of red. He snapped a photo, and after the flash was gone, so was the woman. Erik pulled the picture out of the camera and looked at it. It was just a picture of the Woman Kneeling at the Desk. There was also something left behind on the desk. Erik reached out and grabbed it. It was a small piece of paper, most likely written from the woman.

It read:

"This ritual is so pointless! There is no point for me to be losing my blood just to make them happy!

Why me!? What makes me so special? I'm just an average woman. I hate this.

Maybe I can escape before the ritual hits the final day."

"Ritual? What is she talking about? And losing her blood? That sounds horrible. What the hell were they doing down here?" Erik whispered after reading the paper. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he could see a shadow of someone outside the curtain to his right. The camera was back up to his face, and he slowly backed out of the other side of the curtains. He could hear some kind of whispering, but couldn't make out the words. It sounded like the person was speaking some other language. But then it stopped, and so did Erik. He lowered the camera from his eye, and peeked around the other side of the curtain. No one was there. He let out a deep breath, but froze when he heard something behind him.

"Die……." Was whispered from behind him. Erik spun around, only to find the big man who carried the bucket of the woman's blood away last night, right in front of him. The big man was still wearing the disturbing mask and brought his arms up, with his hands balled into fists. He took a swing that hit Erik square in the chest. Erik was knocked onto his back and the camera flew out of his hands. Erik sat up and watched the big man walking toward him. The big man brought his arms up again, but this time Erik was expecting the attack. He rolled over, through the ghost, and grabbed the camera. He jumped back up to his feet and lifted the camera to his eye. The capture circle was red, and there was a small blinking light at the top. A small chime sounded as well. "Fatal Frame…" He snapped a picture which knocked the big man back, but the small chime sounded again. Erik pressed the shutter button again, and the ghost grunted, and then disappeared.

Erik knew it was not over. He looked at the filament at the bottom right hand corner of the camera and saw a faint red glow. He began to walk in a circle and the filament grew brighter. He stopped at where it was the brightest. Although nothing was there, Erik stayed in the ready position. Nothing happened for about 20 seconds, but then out of nowhere, the ghost ran out of the wall with his arm up, and swung it back down, knocking the camera out of Erik's hands again. He stopped in front of Erik and stood there. Erik looked at the man, completely unarmed. The man then grabbed Erik's shoulders, and another flashback occurred.

There was an alter in the middle of a big room, surrounded by candles. At the alter stood what looked like two priests. They were both holding books, and in front of them on the alter, was some kind of mask. Behind Erik, a door opened. Another woman, different from the last, was brought in, by another two of the priest like men. She was brought to the alter and then pushed down to her knees. One of the priests opened a book and began reciting something in another language. Another priest picked up the mask and held it high above his head. The mask looked like a sleeping mask, only with spikes where the eyes go. The other two priests held the woman down. Erik then realized what was about to happen.

"NO! THIS IS WRONG!" He shouted. The priests stopped, and looked at him. _'Uh…oh….I thought this was a flashback…'_ The priests then continued with what they were doing. The mask was brought down so fast and hard, Erik could not look away. The woman screamed in agony. The priests let go of the woman, and turned to Erik. They began walking toward him, and Erik could not move. They got to him and grabbed him. They brought him over to the alter, after taking the screaming blinded woman out. Erik was forced to kneel down, and noticed there was another mask.

The priest opened the book again. He started reciting his strange language again, as the other priest picked up the other mask. Erik was able to make out one thing from this man's text.

"Let the eyes of the damn, now be blinded, but tormented, by seeing the dead!"

The mask came down….


	4. Night 2

Disclaimer: Ok, so I'm going to agree with anyone that says this chapter is nowhere near as good as the others, but its 1:30 in the morning, I just got done working 8 days this week, I'm mentally and physically tired, and I don't even know how I'm still up! Anyway, I still don't own any of the Fatal frame stuff, but I do own most of the characters, even though I kinda stole the blind lady from the first game. So yeah… Read and review, and hopefully my next chapter will be lots better! Enjoy! 

Night 2

Erik opened his eyes, only to realize that nothing was wrong with them. He was in a different room, one he hadn't been in before. "What just happened?" He said out loud. He was very grateful that nothing had happened. But now he didn't know where he was, or what to do next. He slowly got to his feet, feeling a little nauseous from the sight he had just witnessed. The room he was in was small, with only one door, and a torch hanging from the wall. He looked around and realized he didn't have his camera. "Great… How am I supposed to protect myself if anything comes after me?"

Erik walked to the door and slowly opened it, just a crack. He peeked through and saw the room with the curtains. He knew this is where he dropped his camera, which made his mind a little more at ease. As he opened the door more, he kept a lookout for his camera, which he easily spotted on the ground over by the curtains.

The door fell shut behind him as he ran to grab his camera. He swooped it up and looked around. Seeing nothing around, Erik let out a small sigh. He knew where he was, and that was a good thing.

'_Ok…' _He thought. _'This is not going to work tonight… I just need to get outta here and go back home.' _ He looked around and spotted the door he had just come through. With another quick glance around the room, he realized something. His heart began to pound in his chest. Mind racing, he slowly walked to the door. He knew he had just come though this door, but he also remembered coming through this very same door after leaving the hallway in the entrance. He remembered opening the door, seeing the curtains in front of him, and the 3 doors; the left, the middle, and the right. There were only 4 doors in this room.

"But… This is the exit… isn't it?" With a shaky hand, he reached for the doorknob and twisted. When he pulled the door all the way open, all he saw was the small room he had just been in. "Oh no…Where's the hallway? And the steps to get out?" He ran in to the room all the way to the back, but there was no other way out. "Great…Now I'm stuck in here."

He figured since there was nothing left to do, that it was time to finish this. He needed to save his grandfather from his ongoing death. Erik gathered his thoughts and turned around to head back out of the room. What he saw knocked the breath right out of him as though someone reached into his body and squeezed all the air out of his lungs. There, standing only feet away, was the woman he saw in the flashback. She was wearing the mask over her eyes, her white kimono made no signs that she was moving, as thought she had just appeared out of thin air. The blue sash around her was tied into an untidy bow in the back, and her mouth was hanging open from screaming till her death. She didn't move, or attack, she just stood there.

"Is….is someone there?" She spoke. Erik wasn't sure what to do. He didn't know if she would attack him or if she was going to be nice. But he was pretty sure that he'd never heard of a nice ghost. He slowly lifted his camera, making sure not to make a sound, since he knew this woman was blind. As soon as the camera reached his eye, the capture circle was a bright red. He snapped a picture, because he knew what happened when it was red. The woman recoiled backwards, and Erik, deciding it wouldn't be a good idea to fight in this small room, ran past her out into the room with the curtains.

The woman let out a scream which made Erik's spine tingle, but he kept the camera at eye level. She started to flail her arms around as she came closer to Erik, but he kept his ground, still aiming at her. He waited until he heard the chime for his fatal frame, and took his chance. The chime sounded again as the woman slid backwards, and he hit the shutter button again, then a third time. Suddenly the woman was gone, but the filament was not out. He knew she was still here.

Spinning on his heel he did a full 180, only to find the woman right in his face, with her hands coming down. She hit him in the shoulder with a slap that looked like it wouldn't hurt. But instead of feeling the hit from where her hand had struck him, he felt the pain in his chest, almost like he was hit in the heart. He stumbled backwards a little and looked up. The woman was gone again, but instead of just turning, Erik ran straight forward so he could get a better view of the room.

He spun around again and saw the woman coming toward him, and waited for the precise moment. With one more flash, the woman shrieked and began to fall to her knees. "MY EYES!!!" She said before disappearing. Erik let out a deep breath, that he was sure he was holding the entire time he was fighting her. Something was glimmering on the floor where the lady was.

"Hmm… She dropped a key," He said as he grabbed it from the floor. He figured it was to one of the doors, but decided to look around the room a bit more, just in case other things were there. "We'll start in the center, past the curtains." He walked over and put his hand on the curtain. Just before pulling it back, he stopped as he noticed a shadow flickering in the light behind it.

With the camera in the ready position, he threw the curtain back, only to find a young girl kneeling at the desk. The odd thing was, the camera wasn't responding at all. _'Is there really someone else in here?'_ He looked down at the girl who looked around the age of 11. It looked as though she was coloring a picture. Without even turning her head, she spoke.

"Haruki! Did you find mommy yet?" Erik just stood there, not knowing what to say. The little girl waited a moment, then threw down her crayon and jumped up. "HARUKI! I asked you a question!" The little girl said as she turned around. Her eyes grew wide as she realized it wasn't her sister. "Oh… hi! Who are you?" She said to Erik as her cheeks turned a brilliant red color.

"Um…I'm Erik…" He said with a bit of confusion in his voice. The little girl smiled and turned back to the desk, kneeling back down to her picture. "Hmm... It's nice to meet you I guess. But I was hoping you were my sister! She left a few days ago to find my mommy." The little girl said.

Erik didn't move from his spot, partially because he was too confused to move. He just stared down at the little girl. She was wearing a rose colored Kimono with a white sash. Her hair was black and went straight down to her shoulders. "So, umm, where did your mommy go?"

The little girl let out a sigh that sounded as though she was upset for the interruptions. She stood back up and turned to face Erik. "How should I know!? I was just playing in my house with my sister when a big man came over and told mommy she had to go with him. So then my sister went after them. I think she knew what was going on, but she wouldn't tell me."

"Well what are you doing here? I mean, does anyone know you're here?" Erik said as he finally regained feeling in his legs.

"I went to follow Haruki when she left to go find mommy, but I got lost, and ended here. I found this room and someone came by and told me to color. So I am!"

Erik was a little creeped out by this girl and wondered what he should do. But he also had this nagging feeling that he needed to help this little girl find her sister and mother. "How about this, let me help you find your mom and sister! What did your sister look like?"

The little girl smiled at the idea of being reunited with her sister. "Umm... She looks like me, only her hair is longer, and she is wearing a white kimono with a blue sash." She chirped happily. Erik then recalled what the woman he had just fought was wearing. He swallowed hard, not wanting to tell this little girl that her sister was dead. He thought about another thing the little girl had said.

"So who was this person that came by and told you to color?" Erik was hoping she would have some answers that would give him some clues about what to do next. "He was a big man, but I don't know what his face looked like, because he was wearing a mask."

'_Great,' _he thought, _'the big one with the mask…my favorite.' _ He remembered the key. "Alright, well let's get going then…uh…what's your name?"

The girl looked back up at him with bright eyes. "I'm Akane!"

"Alright then Akane. Let's go find your sister and mother." Erik said cheerfully.

'_Ugh…what am I going to do when I have to tell her that her sister is dead…?'_

Just then, there was a loud banging from the other side of one of the doors.


End file.
